Jeffrey S. Upperman, MD, director of the trauma program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, has co-authored a call to action for filling a significant gap in pediatric public health care and seeks federal oversight to establish the framework for a pediatric applied trauma research network (PATRN). This call to action was published simultaneously in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery and the Journal of Trauma.
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| Jeffrey S. Upperman |
“The establishment of a pediatric trauma research network will be an important advance in trauma care in the United States,” Upperman stated in a press release.
Interventions can be developed to minimize its occurrence and to reduce its severity when trauma does occur. To make these changes, a pediatric trauma research network needs to be established to conduct research in this area in order to make evidence-based recommendations to improve the standard of care for this devastating pediatric health issue, according to the release.
Collaborative networks for pediatric critical care and pediatric emergency care currently exist but only address specific sections of the care required by a pediatric trauma patient. The goal of PATRN is to address the critical unsolved problems that typically cross specialty boundaries including emergency transport to the hospital, emergency room care, pediatric surgery, neurosurgery, intensive care, physical therapy and rehabilitation. Establishment of a pediatric trauma network will enable cohesive care from admission to discharge for the patient with multisystem injuries.
The development of PATRN should include thought leaders from level 1 pediatric trauma centers from across the country. These subject matter experts will work with a panel of nationally recognized advisors to determine a research agenda. The National Institutes of Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Agency for Health Research and Quality are obvious choices to orchestrate and oversee the framework and infrastructure for this much needed network.
